JPH11176673A - Connector - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate risk of spark or fire at all by providing cores wound with windings for a pair of connector bodies mutually fitted to for a closed magnetic path with the cores. SOLUTION: A first connector body 10A comprises a protrudent wall 11 at the outside, a magnetic core 12 housed tightly in a part surrounded by the wall 11, winding 13 wound round the core 12, and signal lines 14, 15 connected to a power feed source to feed a signal Si. A second connector body 10B comprises a protrudent wall 21 near its outside, a magnetic core 22 housed tightly in a part surrounded by the wall 21, winding 23 wound round the core 22, and signal lines 24, 25 connected to an electric machine to input a signal So. The first and the second connector bodies 10A, 10B are fitted each other to place the cores 12, 22 near to for a closed magnetic path.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector for connecting a power supply source to an electric device, and more particularly to a connector which is free from a spark or a fire.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional connector of this type, an electrode type connector is generally used, and an example thereof is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 11, the electrode-type connector 1 includes a pair of male connectors 1A and female connectors 1B. On the male connector 1A side, a protruding male electrode 3 to which the signal line 2 is connected is provided. A female electrode 5 to which the signal line 4 is connected is provided on the female connector 1B side. And male connector 1
By fitting the male electrode 3 on the A side to the female electrode 5 on the female connector 1B side, for example, the signal line 2 connected to the power supply source side and the signal line 4 connected to the electric device side are electrically connected. Electrical energy is transmitted.

[0003]

However, in the case of this type of conventional electrode type connector 1, a spark may be generated at the contact portion between the male electrode 3 and the female electrode 5, which may cause an explosion. Further, when the resistance value increases due to poor contact of the electrode contact portion or the like, there is a problem that a fire occurs due to overheating.

In the case of an optical connector in which light is transmitted by fitting a male connector side and a female connector side, similarly to the electrode type connector, there is a problem similar to the above-mentioned electrode type connector. However, there is a problem that electrical energy cannot be directly transmitted. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a connector that uses a transformer coupling and has no fear of spark or fire.

[0005]

For this reason, in the connector according to the first aspect of the present invention, a pair of connector bodies fitted with each other are provided with cores each having a winding wound thereon, and the connector body is fitted with the core. At that time, each core constituted a closed magnetic circuit. In such a configuration, when the connector bodies are fitted together, the respective cores come close to each other to form a closed magnetic circuit, and the transformers are coupled. As a result, the signal input to one winding is transmitted to the other winding. If the connector bodies are separated from each other, the cores are separated from each other and a closed magnetic circuit is not formed, and the magnetic coupling force is reduced, so that no signal is transmitted.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, a signal conversion means for converting an input signal into a high-frequency signal and supplying the high-frequency signal to the winding is provided on the transmission side of the electric signal, and the winding is provided on the reception side of the electric signal. A configuration is provided in which an inverse transform unit for inversely transforming a received signal from a line is provided. In such a configuration, the signal conversion means converts the input signal into a high-frequency signal and supplies it to the winding. On the other hand, the high-frequency reception signal is converted into the same signal form as, for example, the input signal by the inverse conversion means. As a result, even if the input signal is a low-frequency signal, the size of the core can be reduced, and the size of the connector can be reduced.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, if the input / output lines of the signal conversion means and the inverse conversion means are connected to the signal lines via electrode-type connectors, as described in the third aspect, When the conversion means or the inverse conversion means breaks down, these can be easily replaced.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 are configuration diagrams of a connector according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a connector 10 of the present embodiment includes, for example, first and second connector main bodies 10A and 10B having a circular shape that can be fitted to each other.

The first connector main body 10A has a projecting wall 11 on its outer periphery, and a core 12 made of a magnetic material having a substantially U-shaped cross section is fixed to a portion surrounded by the projecting wall 11 as shown in FIG. It is stored. A winding 13 is wound around the core 12, and a winding 1
3 includes signal lines 14 and 15 from a power supply source (not shown).
Are connected to supply the signal Si. The second connector main body 10B has the first connector 10A near its outer periphery.
3 has a protruding wall 21 that can be fitted to the protruding wall 11, and a core 22 made of a substantially flat magnetic material is provided in a portion surrounded by the protruding wall 21.
It is fixed and stored as shown in FIG. The core 22 has a winding 2
3 is wound, the winding 23 is connected to signal lines 24 and 25, and the signal lines 24 and 25 are connected to electric equipment (not shown) to receive the signal So.

Next, the operation will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4, the first connector body 10A and the second
When the connector body 10B is not connected, the core 1
2 and the core 22 are separated from each other, and a closed magnetic circuit is not formed. Therefore, the signal Si from the power supply source is not transmitted to the electric device. On the other hand, as shown in FIG.
When 0A and the second connector main body 10B are fitted and connected to each other, the core 12 and the core 22 are close to each other to form a closed magnetic circuit as shown in the figure. Thus, a transformer is configured in which the winding 13 on the first connector main body 10A side is a primary winding and the winding 23 on the second connector main body 10B side is a secondary winding. Therefore, the signal Si supplied from the power supply source to the winding 13 via the signal lines 14 and 15 is supplied to the signal lines 24 and 25 via the transformer coupling, and is transmitted to the electric device side. Is transmitted to

According to such a configuration, unlike the conventional electrode type connector, no spark is generated at the electrode contact portion. Further, there is no increase in resistance value due to poor contact of the electrode contact portion, and there is no fear of occurrence of fire due to overheating. By the way, in the configuration of the first embodiment, when the signal Si is a low frequency signal such as a commercial frequency, a large core needs to be provided, and the connector becomes large. Also, a DC signal cannot be transmitted.

In order to solve this problem, the second method shown in FIG.
As in the embodiment, a frequency conversion circuit 31 as a signal conversion means is provided on the signal input side (in this embodiment, on the first connector main body 10A side), and on the signal output side (in the present embodiment, the second connector main body 10B). ) May be provided with a frequency reverse conversion circuit 32 as reverse conversion means. According to such a configuration, even if the signal Si is a low frequency signal of, for example, a commercial frequency, the signal Si is converted into a high frequency signal by the frequency conversion circuit 31 and supplied to the winding 13, so that the core can be downsized.
The connector 10 can be downsized. The high-frequency signal received by the second connector body 10B may be converted into a low-frequency signal of the same commercial frequency as the signal Si by the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 and transmitted to the electric device. . Even if the signal Si is a DC signal, the frequency conversion circuit 31
Then, the signal may be converted into a high-frequency signal and supplied to the winding 13, and the receiving side may be converted into a DC signal by the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 and output. FIG. 6 shows only the core portion.

FIG. 7 shows a configuration example of the frequency conversion circuit 31. 7, the frequency conversion circuit 31 includes an AC-DC conversion circuit 31A that converts an AC signal into a DC signal,
An AC signal generation circuit 31B converts a DC signal into an AC signal of a desired frequency and outputs the converted signal. In such a configuration, the signal Si is once converted into a DC signal by the AC-DC conversion circuit 31A, and the converted DC signal is converted into a high-frequency signal of a desired frequency by the AC signal generation circuit 31B and supplied to the winding 13. Is done.

The inverse frequency conversion circuit 32 has the same configuration. However, in the case of the frequency inversion circuit 32, a signal having a desired frequency can be obtained as the output signal So of the AC signal generation circuit. For example, a signal having the same frequency as the input signal Si can be output, and another frequency signal can be output. When the signal Si is direct current, the frequency conversion circuit 31 does not require an AC-DC conversion circuit, and when the output signal So is a DC signal, the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 does not require an AC signal generation circuit. Becomes

Further, as in a third embodiment shown in FIG.
A configuration in which the frequency conversion circuit 31 and the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 are incorporated in the first connector main body 10A and the second connector main body 10B, respectively, is also possible. Also, when the frequency conversion circuit 31 and the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 are built in or externally attached, as shown in FIG. 9, the input side and the output side of the frequency conversion circuit 31 and the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 are miniaturized. If it is connected to the signal line side and the winding side via the electrode type connectors 41 to 44, the frequency conversion circuit 31 and the frequency reverse conversion circuit 3
In the event of a failure of 2, only the failed circuit can be replaced,
Maintenance at the time of failure of these circuits becomes easy.

By the way, there is a problem that if an illegal current flows due to a short circuit fault or the like inside the frequency conversion circuit 31 or the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 and overheats, a fire may be caused. In order to solve such a problem, it is effective to provide a fuse 50 on the power supply side (input side) of the frequency conversion circuit 31 and the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 as shown by a broken line in FIG. If current flows that overheats the circuit,
The fuse 50 is blown to cut off the current path to prevent overheating and thus a fire accident.

As shown in FIG. 10, the frequency conversion circuit 31 and the frequency inverse conversion circuit 32 are integrated with a wound core, and ultra-small electrode type connectors 41 and 42 are provided on the input side.
May be adopted. This is effective for a structure in which a circuit and a core are integrated, and maintenance in the case of a failure or the like is easy. Needless to say, a configuration in which the fuse 50 is provided as shown in FIG. 9 is also possible.

In this embodiment, one of the cores has a U-shape and the other has a flat plate shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this core shape. It is clear that any core shape may be used as long as it forms a closed magnetic circuit. In the present embodiment,
Although the configuration in which only one pair of cores is provided, that is, the case where the number of core wires is one has been described, a connector having a plurality of core wires may be provided by providing a plurality of pairs of cores in each connector body.

[0019]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, since the connector is configured to transmit a signal using a transformer coupling, a spark at an electrode contact portion like a conventional electrode type connector is provided. It is possible to provide a connector with extremely high safety, in which there is no concern about the occurrence of fire or the occurrence of fire caused by overheating due to an increase in the contact resistance of the electrode contact portion.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first aspect, the connector can be downsized even when the input signal is a low-frequency signal or a DC signal. According to the third aspect of the invention, in addition to the effects of the first and second aspects, maintenance at the time of failure of the signal conversion means and the reverse signal conversion means becomes easy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view of a fitting portion of the first connector main body.

FIG. 3 is a view of a fitting portion of the second connector main body.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation when the connector is not in contact

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an operation at the time of contact of a connector.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of the frequency conversion circuit of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a connection example of a frequency conversion circuit and a frequency inverse conversion circuit using an electrode type connector.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a structure in which a frequency conversion circuit, a frequency inverse conversion circuit, and a core are integrated.

FIG. 11 shows a conventional electrode type connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Kneading 10A 1st connector main body 10B 2nd connector main body 11,21 Projection wall 12,22 Core 13,23 Winding 14,15,24,25 Signal line 31 Frequency conversion circuit 32 Frequency reverse conversion circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of connector bodies which are fitted with each other, each provided with a core wound with a winding, and when the connector body is fitted, the cores constitute a closed magnetic circuit. connector. 2. A signal conversion means for converting an input signal into a high-frequency signal and supplying the high-frequency signal to the winding on the transmission side of the electric signal,
2. The connector according to claim 1, wherein a reverse conversion means for reversely converting a reception signal from the winding is provided on a receiving side of the electric signal. 3. The connector according to claim 2, wherein input / output lines of said signal conversion means and inverse conversion means are connected to signal lines via electrode type connectors.